


Would I Be Good

by crimsontheory



Series: Study Buddies [2]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, there’s like nothing else i can tag???
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-04 23:15:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25234531
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crimsontheory/pseuds/crimsontheory
Summary: Harry invites Louis over for their own study group.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Series: Study Buddies [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1817770
Comments: 20
Kudos: 106
Collections: Prompt 2.4: Bronze





	Would I Be Good

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. This is the second part of a series, so if you haven’t read the first part please do so before reading this one.
> 
> The first part of this flopped which isn’t surprising but disheartening none the less and that kind of made me lose the tiny bit of motivation I had to write this. And that paired with the fact that I was out of town the majority of this week and truly didn’t have much time to write means you get this mess. It's rushed and it’s shitty and I'm sorry. 
> 
> I wrote the majority of this on my phone and I'm posting it from my phone and it’s un-beta’d because I don't have any friends in the fandom or anyone who can help me when I write so there's undoubtedly some mistakes. 
> 
> I had almost finished writing this when I remembered I had to incorporate the word for this week somehow so that’s kind of just thrown in here, I apologize for that. I apologize for this whole thing honestly. Hopefully, I can redeem myself next week.
> 
> This is part of a Wordplay prompt challenge for the prompt "bronze". To read the amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/bronze), and to see all fics written as part of the challenge (including years 1-3), [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_fic_challenge/works). You can also find the masterpost for this year’s challenge [here](https://wordplayfics.tumblr.com/post/622306139518926848/wordplay-2020-every-week-for-five-weeks-a-prompt).
> 
> Again, the title is taken from Real by Years & Year's.

It was Wednesday and Louis was going back. He wasn’t planning on it, he really wasn’t, but halfway through the class he had just come from, he received a text from Harry. _Looking forward to seeing you again today!_ He’d forgotten he still had Harry’s number and it took him a few minutes to even figure out who it was from because Harry was saved in his phone as the frog and cyclone emojis.

Louis already felt like shit about lying to Harry about returning to the study group, and now after that text he couldn’t just _not_ show up now could he. He was already dreading it as he climbed the stairs that led to the main entrance of the library. At least he had his earbuds with him this time. Maybe he could find a good Spotify playlist or something to listen to that could drown out any other noises.

Just as he reached the entrance and was about to pull open the door, someone called out his name. Louis stopped, apologizing to the person behind him who almost ran into him because of it, and turned to see Harry standing just off to the side of the entrance. Louis didn’t know how he missed him when he walked up. “Hey, what are you doing out here?”

“I was waiting for you,” Harry explained. “I wanted to ask you something.”

Louis waited, assuming Harry was going to jump straight into the question he wanted to ask, but after a few seconds had passed, it became evident that wasn’t the case and Louis had to prompt him into it. “Alright, ask away.”

“So, I was wondering if you wanted to skip the group and come back to my dorm to study instead?” Harry asked in a rush. “It was just kind of hard to focus in there, you know, so I thought it might be better if we go somewhere with fewer distractions.”

Louis raised an eyebrow at that. Except for the time when Harry was passing Louis that note, Harry was scribbling so fast in his notebook that Louis was afraid the friction of his pencil against the paper was going to cause a fire. And a library wasn’t the most ideal place to start a fire. It didn’t seem like Harry had trouble focusing at all. Plus, he seemed genuinely excited to come back again today.

Although, being somewhere with fewer distractions did sound nice. He wasn’t sure if he’d have the same problem today as he did on Monday, but he really wasn’t looking forward to even risking it. Technically, he _could_ leave any time he wanted, there was nothing keeping him there for the full two hours, everyone was free to come and go as they pleased, but there was something about leaving that made Louis feel like he would be letting Harry down. 

Obviously, he knew he wasn’t letting Harry down, it was a _study group_ not like the two of them were actually spending quality time together, but something about it didn’t sit right with Louis. And he was interested in spending more time with Harry. 

“Um, I do have a roommate, but I live in the suites so we have our own separate rooms,” Harry babbled. He must have taken Louis’ silence as a bad thing because now he was just rambling on. “He’s really cool and he won’t bother us and—”

“That sounds great,” Louis interrupted. 

“Wait,” Harry said, eyes widening in surprise. “Really?”

Louis smiled, nodding. “Yeah, as you said, fewer distractions. Just let me pop inside to grab a tea and then we can head over.”

He started for the front doors, but before he could even make it two steps, he felt Harry reach out and grab onto his forearm, stopping him from going anywhere. “Oh, um, this is for you. I got it for you.” 

It wasn’t until then that Louis noticed Harry was holding a large coffee cup in his hand along with what looked like one of the takeaway food bags from the coffee shop. “You did?”

Harry shrugged as he awkwardly handed over the cup and the bag to Louis. “Yeah, I heard what you ordered the other day and I just thought I’d get it for you. To save time or whatever. But I got you a cookie instead because they’d sold out of muffins.”

Louis arched a brow at Harry stumbling over that expiation. He took a sip from the cup and his eyes widened. That was his _exact_ order. The type of tea he preferred and even the right amount of milk. Harry really was paying attention. “So you were trying to bribe me, Styles?”

“No,” Harry shook his head. He didn’t have his hair clip today, so the pieces of his hair that were pushed out of his face now flopped down in front of his eyes. “I was just being nice, you know, friendly.”

One of Louis’ favourite things was teasing Harry and he was going to _love_ to be able to do it again. “Well come on then, Harold, lead the way. I’ll even split my cookie with you.”

They make their way through campus, Louis sipping his tea the whole time even though it was quite warm out, to where the suites were located. It had been a while since Louis had been to this part of the campus since he hadn’t lived on campus since his first year. 

Harry used his student ID card to swipe them into the lobby of the suite building he lived in and they took the set of stairs off to the left to the second floor. When Harry unlocked the door to his dorm, Louis could hear a television playing what sounded like a footie match, or some sort of sporting event. 

The door opened into a long hallway that contained the kitchen; a large refrigerator, a stove, a sink, and just enough counter space for a microwave. Honestly, it wasn't all that much smaller than the one in Louis’ flat. Already, Louis could tell this place was much nicer than the dorms he livid in his first year. Those communal toilets were an absolute nightmare, he never felt like he was truly clean when he showered in them. Thankfully, his two best mates were in the same boat and they quickly decided to get an off campus flat together the next year. 

The kitchen hallway opened up into a living room. It was filled with the university supplied sofa and two chairs as well as a large television propped up on the coffee table which was pushed against the far wall. And sat on the sofa was who Louis assumed was Harry’s roommate. The back of the sofa was facing them where they stood at the end of the kitchen hallway, so all Loui could see of him was the back of his head. 

“This is my roommate, Thomas,” Harry explained, confirming exactly what Louis thought. 

Thomas flipped off the television and jumped up from the sofa, walking around it to greet them. He walked toward Louis with his arm outstretched. Louis placed his hand in his, shaking it. 

“Hey mate,” Louis greeted. “I’m Louis, nice to meet you.”

“Likewise,” Thomas said, stepping back. “Harry told me you guys would be studying so I’ll go watch telly in my room so I won't bother you.”

“Thanks, Tom,” Harry said, turning toward his bedroom door which was just off to the left of the kitchen. 

“No worries,” Thomas responded. “You two have fun studying. Is that what the kids are calling it these days?”

Louis baulked at that. What did he mean? They literally _were_ just going to study. But then Harry made some sort of odd squeaking sound and Louis turned to him with just enough time to see his cheeks go bright red before he spun around and busied himself with unlocking the door to his bedroom. He didn’t have much time to think about Harry’s reaction to that because he was quickly being pulled into the room behind Harry. 

There were fairy lights strung up around the top of each wall as well as around the headboard of the bed. Photos of Harry with his friends and family pinned to the wall next to the bed, a fuzzy pink rug in the centre of the room, and a record player that looked like it had seen better days sat on top of the wardrobe with a milk crate full of records next to it. There was even a handheld rainbow flag stuck into the lampshade on the bedside table. Interesting. The whole room felt very cosy and very Harry. 

An acoustic guitar propped against the wall in the corner of the room caught Louis’ attention and he walked over to it, plucking one of the strings with his finger. “You play?”

Harry looked at him from over his shoulder and shrugged. “I dabble.”

Louis hummed in thought as he plucked at the strings again. He thought he remembered Harry mentioning once that he was in a band with some of his mates from back home, so Louis was pretty sure he did more than just dabble. He’d honestly love to hear Harry play one day. The only thing Louis could play on guitar was about three seconds of a Nirvana song that he tried to teach himself a few years ago when he was trying to learn how to play, but he quickly gave that up. 

Wandering around the room some more, Louis examined some trinkets Harry had set out on one of the floating shelves. He noticed a bronze medal hanging from the corner and he walked closer, flipping it over to read the words on the back. _Cheshire Science Fair Third Place_. “What’s this about?”

Harry sighed when he saw what Louis was asking about. “I was about ten years old, I think when I participated in this science fair back home. I was _so sure_ I was going to win first place like I was really cocky about it. But when they called us up on stage to announce the winners; I got third. I ran off stage straight to my mum and started crying my eyes out because I was so upset that I didn’t get first. Later on, I realized there were over one hundred people in that science fair and getting third place out of a hundred was pretty good.”

Louis thumbed at the medal as he laughed at the image of a ten-year-old Harry crying over third place. Harry could get pretty pouty now when he didn’t get what he wanted, so he was sure a younger version was even worse. 

“Anyway,” Harry continued. “Make yourself at home. I like to sit at my desk when I study, so you can take the bed.”

Louis did just that, unpacking all of his books from his backpack and sprawling out on the bed. It was just a standard university single bed, but it was surprisingly comfortable. Harry must have added some extra padding or something. 

“I made some study playlists on Spotify last night,” Harry said a few minutes later, drawing Louis’ attention away from his notes. “I thought I could play them quietly in the background while we work, but let me know if it bothers you and I can turn it off.”

Louis nodded as Harry set up the playlist on his laptop. The first song that started playing wasn’t anything that Louis recognized, but it sounded really chill and soothing. Certainly, something that could play in the background without distracting him. 

They worked for the two hours they would have if they were in the study group and the time flew by. Louis was able to get a lot of work done, wasn’t distracted by anything, and was very comfortable laid out in Harry’s bed. He packed away his things and left, thanking Harry for inviting him over. But before he left, Harry asked if he’d like to come over at the same time on Friday and do it again, which Louis quickly agreed to. 

So it went like that. Louis went over to Harry’s after his class on Friday, they studied for two hours and he left. He came back at the same time on Monday, but after they finished working, Louis didn’t leave. Harry asked if he’d like to watch a film and Louis agreed. Harry made them some snacks while Louis stretched out on the sofa in the living room and pulled up Netflix. 

Then Louis started coming over _every day_. They would study for a couple of hours and then watch movies or even play video games with Thomas until well into the night. Louis had delightedly learned that he and Thomas shared a love of teasing Harry which Harry wasn’t very pleased about. 

Harry made them snacks every night and one time he even made them an entire pizza _from scratch_. He made the dough and the sauce and everything. It was the best pizza Louis had ever had. He thought that maybe Harry was studying in the wrong field. 

It was nice. More than nice really. Louis hadn’t realized how much he truly missed Harry until he had him back in his life again and they quickly picked up right where they left off two years ago. He’d even made a new friend with Harry’s roommate. Louis was finally able to fully focus on his studies and he reconnected with a friend that he missed dearly. Life was great.

**Author's Note:**

> I’m [ireallysawanangel](https://ireallysawanangel.tumblr.com) on tumblr, so come say hi!  
> [Here’s](https://ireallysawanangel.tumblr.com/post/623542954116710400) a tumblr post you can reblog if you like!


End file.
